The recent Iran deal has brought much fanfare and celebration, most of which conveniently overlooks the fundamental nature of the Iranian regime. Putting aside the details of the agreement, one claim in particular has consistently been made about the nuclear deal which simply holds no weight. The claim is that the nuclear deal will somehow improve human rights in Iran, and lead to an improvement in Iranian civil society.

Washington, 30 Jul - The Obama administration's nuclear deal earlier this month with Iran does not prevent Tehran from having a "nuclear weapons capability", an official of the main opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran has said.

"A closer look at the details of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, however, provides little cause for celebration", Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the NCRI's Washington office, wrote on Thursday in Roll Call.

Washington, 29 Jul - United States Secretary of State John Kerry intensified efforts on Tuesday to beat back criticism of the Iran nuclear deal and convince US lawmakers that rejecting it would give Tehran a fast track to a weapon and access to billions of dollars from collapsed sanctions.

Days after tough questioning by lawmakers at an emotional Senate hearing, Kerry sharpened his response to criticism that the deal's provisions were temporary and would not prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon in the long run.

London, 29 Jul - On the first visit to Iran for 12 years by a French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius conveyed an invitation from President Francois Hollande to Iran's President Hassan Rouhani to visit France in November.

If Rouhani accepts, he will be the first Iranian president to make a state visit to France since 1999.

Fabius is seeking to smooth over any strains in the relationship created by France's hard-line approach during negotiations that produced a nuclear agreement on 14 July, and thereby create a climate conducive to stronger economic ties.

London, 29 Jul - Bahrain's top officials are accusing Iran of providing the weaponry used Tuesday during a deadly terror attack that killed two policeman in Sitra.

On Tuesday morning, two policeman were killed and a third officer severely injured when a bomb exploded outside of a girls’ school in Sitra, an island village in the country, almost exclusively populated by Shiites. Five others sustained light to medium injuries, according to reports.

The bomb blast created a giant hole in the wall of the school, a witness told Reuters.

Washington, 29 Jul - A former international nuclear inspector, an Iranian opposition figure, and the former Commander of the USS Cole will discuss the Iran Nuclear Deal and its impact on regional security, nuclear weapons verification challenges and its impact inside Iran at a National Press Club Newsmakers news conference on Monday, 3 August at 10:30 a.m.

Al-Jubeir's remarks, which followed talks with visiting EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini in Riyadh on Monday, comes amid growing tension between both regional powers following Tehran's nuclear deal with the major world powers earlier this month.

London, 28 Jul - The European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is in Tehran on Tuesday to open a new dialogue on "bilateral issues" a fortnight after the nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers. Yet her trip puts in peril Europe's democratic values, Alejo Vidal-Quadras, former Spanish Vice-President of the European Parliament and current chair of the Brussels-based NGO, International Committee in Search of Justice, writes in the United Press International.

Mogherini will travel to Tehran on Tuesday following the major power powers' recent nuclear deal with Iran. It will be her first official visit to Tehran, where she is expected to meet Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and other senior officials.

London, 26 Jul - Western and Middle East insurance specialists see Iran as an appealing $8 billion (£5 billion) market in the wake of its nuclear deal with world powers, though uncertainty over when sanctions on Tehran will be lifted means they are treating the country with caution, Reuters reported.

Eight out of 11 insurance and reinsurance specialists who responded to questions emailed by Reuters this week said Iran was an attractive or very attractive market, especially in the marine and energy sectors. Responses were on an anonymous basis due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Dubai, 26 Jul - Bahrain has decided to recall its ambassador to Iran in protest at "hostile" comments by Iranian leaders, the official BNA news agency reported on Saturday.

It said the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA) "strongly denounced the repeated blatant Iranian interference in Bahrain's internal affairs in order to shake up the kingdom's stability and fan tension".

Amnesty International’s latest report on Iran states the regime executed 694 people between January 1 and July 15. This means the country averages at least three executions a day, Breitbart reported on Friday.

Berlin, 25 Jul - German's domestic intelligence service has published a new report in which it says that Iran's Intelligence Ministry is actively spying in Germany, targeting primarily supporters of its main opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), also known as the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), and the broader opposition coalition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

Washington, 25 Jul - The US government and its Western allies should adopt a new policy on Iran, blocking its "pathways" to a nuclear bomb and its meddling in the Middle East and recognising the Iranian people's "desire to topple the religious fascism in Iran and to establish democracy and a popular rule", Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi told a Congressional briefing in the US House of Representatives on Friday.

London, 24 Jul - Top Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi has urged the people of Iran to show solidarity with Iranian teachers who braved a government clampdown earlier this week to rally outside the Iranian Parliament demanding the release of fellow teachers in detention.

Writing in the Christian Post on Thursday, Ambassador Ken Blackwell, a former Mayor of Cincinnati and a former US Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, called for a new US policy towards Iran:

Paris, July 23, 2015 (AFP) - More than 200 teachers were arrested on Wednesday during a protest outside the parliament in Tehran, an activist group said. The teachers were demanding the release of their colleagues from jail.

Authorities launched a crackdown after over 2,000 teachers from across Iran gathered outside parliament carrying placards and chanting “Free those arrested,” the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said.

Jeddah, 22 Jul - US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said after talks in Saudi Arabia that Iran's "potential for aggression" was a shared concern as he moved to bolster defence ties with Riyadh following a nuclear agreement with its arch-foe, Reuters reported.

The conservative, mainly Sunni Muslim kingdom is engaged in a contest for power with Shi'ite Iran stretching across the region. It fears the nuclear deal will free Tehran from international pressure and sanctions, giving it more room to back allies in conflicts from Syria to Yemen.

London, 22 Jul - While the world’s attention has been fixed on the weak nuclear agreement signed in Vienna last week, a humanitarian crisis is brewing for thousands of Iranian refugees in Iraq, former Scottish Euro-Parliamentarian Struan Stevenson wrote on Wednesday in Euractiv.com.

Struan Stevenson was a Conservative MEP for Scotland in the European Parliament from 1999 until 2014. During this time, he was president of the Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq. He is now president of the European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA).

Tehran, 21 Jul - The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) objected on Monday to the United Nations Security Council resolution that is part of the landmark nuclear agreement, asserting it crossed some “red lines” concerning Iranian defences.

The objection, by Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, appeared to open a new point of contention within Iran’s political hierarchy.

General Jafari’s remarks, reported in an interview with Iran's state-run Tasnim news agency, appeared to be primarily concerned with the restrictions in the Security Council resolution on the Iranian regime’s missile capabilities.

New York, 20 Jul - The United Nations Security Council on Monday endorsed a deal to curb Iran's nuclear program in return for sanctions relief, but it will be able to re-impose UN penalties during the next decade if Tehran breaches the historic agreement.

London, 19 Jul - Three former United States, European and United Nations officials with strong backgrounds in Iraq have condemned a food and fuel siege imposed since last week on several thousand Iranian dissidents in Camp Liberty in Iraq.

The dissidents are all members of Iran's main opposition group People's Mojahedin (Mujahedin-e-Khalq, PMOI, MEK).